The Portland daily press., 1887-10-15
AN OLD CORPORATION.
EventfuI History of the Rival OF the
Great Telegraph Monopoly.
New York Tribune.1

The Baltimore and Ohio Telegraph system,
which has now passed into the hands of the
Western Union Telegraph Company, dates
back really to the early days of the tele-
graph. 1t was on the railroad between Bal
timore and Washington that Professor
Morse first obtained the right Of way to at
tempt his experiments, and over the tee-
graph wires strung along the Baltimore &
Ohio railroad that the historic message.
what hath God wrought" was transmitted
on May "a, 1874. The father of the present
Minister to France was at that time presi-
dent Of the railroad company To him Mr..
Morse applied for right Of way after Con-
gress had granted him paltry sum for the
conduct Of his experiments. Mr.. McLane
deemed the old man visionary and referred
him to John FL. b. Latrobe, then and now
counsel to the corporation. Mr.. Morse went
to Mr.. Latrobe's house, and their converse
tion lasted until the early dawn. 1t resulted
In the conversion Of the counsel, and by his
influence President McLane and his fellow
directors were persuaded to give the inventor
the facilities he wanted. Here is the resolu-
ton that the board Of directors passed Ia
1843:
"Resoired, That the President be authorized 10
afford Mr. Morse such facilities as may be requi-
site TO give his invention proper trial upon tue
Washington road; provided, In his opinion, and
In that Of the engineer, IL can be done without in
jury 10 the road and without embarrassment TO
the operations OF the company, anu provided MIR
Morse will concede 20 the company the use Of tile
telegraph upon the road without expense, aud re-
serving the right OF disseminating the H. upOn
experiment, II should prove In any manner njuri-
Gus"
The contract for building the telegraph
line underground was taken by Ezra Cor
nell, but it was afterwards decided that il
would be practicable TO build it overhead
The line, after its successful completion,
was extended over the Baltimore Il Ohio
railroad toward Harper's Ferry, and later
on, about 1868, to Wheeling, Grafton and
Parkersburg. These lines were built at the
cost Of the railroad, but under a contract
with the Western Telegraph Company,
which operated them up to 1877. In that
year the contract expired by Limitation, the
charter of the Western Company expiring.
The lines were seized by the railroad com
pany and operated as an independent tele-
graph system. At this time the mileage Of
the telegraph lines amounted TO from 5000
to 5000 miles of wire.
The. Baltimore & Ohio telegraph was the
ally Of all the principal opposition compa-
mics started to contest with the Western
Union Telegraph Company the supremacy
in this business. Ii proved to be an impoT-
tant weapon in the hands Of John w. Gar
rett In furtherlng his schemes of railroad
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. The system was worked
in harmony with the Atlantic and Pacific
until Mr.. Gould and his associates were
bought up by the Western Union. 1t was
allied TO the American Union Telegraph
Company In the later war, and after the con
S0lldati0n seven years ago, which made
Western Union a Gould insteaj Of Van
derbllJ concern, IL was operated indepen-
IDENTIFY. But all the while the system was
gradually extended, so that by 1884 1t en-
braced $1,000 miles in ALL
1t was in that year that the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad management began the devel-
opment of an active opposition to Western
Union. This was part Of the Garrett scheme
that looked to permanent operation of its
own express and palace car departments and
contemplated bringing its independent line
Of railroad into New York City. The Gar
retts took some Of the best men whom the
Western Union employed, ID. I'll. Bates,
who had been a close and active lieutenant
OF Mr.. Gould and General Thomas f. Eckert
IN the American Union fight, was chosen 20
manage the system and extend 1t. lie called
to his support John +. Zueblin and other
bright and strong officers of the Western
Union stan. and active hostilities were be-
gun. Money was spent lavishly by the Bal
tlmOre and Ohio people, with the result of
quadrupllng their telegraph mileage within
three years and reaching one half Of the COM
lnerclal population Of the country The ex-
tensions were made in the teeth Of bitter OPP
position from the western Union that went
TO the length of cutting down the poles and
assaulting the employees Of the vigorous rival.
Suits almost innumerable were begun to
block the way Of the Baltimore and Ohio but
IN all the cases-niore than 1O0-which got
INTO the courts that company came out the
victor. But meantime tolls were lowered and
the public received the benefit of rates which
spoiled the profits of the aggressive company
ana deprived Western Union stockholders
for year of their dividends.
The present Baltimore and Ohio Telegraph
company was Incorporated In 1882. by It's
last report It showed that il possessed 81 9l9
miles OF wire and 1854 miles OF poles. Its
0ihces numbered l 800, but to-day 1t probably
has nearly 1000 Offices opened, Its employees
number about 5000. About one third Of the
wire mileage operated by the telegraph com
pany is leased on long time from the railroad
company; the rest is absolutely owned: Mr.
Bates is still president w. ii. Ijams Is treas
urer and X. Duryee, secretary The Tertiary
reached by the lines of the company stretch
from Portland, Me-, to Galveston, Tex. Its
mileage is double that reached BY any other
OF the competitors of Western Union and the
war OF rates has been greater than any ever
waged before its existence. Ii Is within the
easy memory of merchants to recall the time
when the telegraph rate TO San Francisco
was $40 for ten words. 1t came down by de- |
grees TO $3.50, then to $500, then to $3.50, |
Si.50, and now 81. The rate TO st. Louis has |
been reduced to one tenth Of the old tariff |
to Chicago the reduction has been greater,
and corresponding cuts have been made la |
the tariffs between New York and Washing
ton and intervening points.